Debate Ensues After WWII Drama Shows Germans as Victims
Some 11 million Germans tuned in to the first of a two-part series on public broadcaster ARD Sunday night to watch a TV drama showing Germans as victims of violence as they fled eastern Europe at the end of World War II.
The first part of "Die Flucht" ("March of Millions") garnered the best ratings of the year and ARD's best in 10 years on Sunday night, and while German officials praised the film as a key milestone in dealing with the country's past.
The drama begin in 1944 and centers on a fictional countess Lena of Mahlenberg who leaves Berlin for her home in East Prussia to care for her father and the family's manor as the Soviet army approaches.
Just before the front reaches her home, Lena, like thousands of other mainly women and children, flees for southern Germany, enduring a bitter winter and Soviet bombs.